Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Darwin International Airport (DRW), Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,582 miles (or 13,811 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Ellsworth Air Force Base and Darwin International Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Ellsworth Air Force Base and Darwin International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• The furthest airport from Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,579 miles (17,026 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA) is Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) S of RCA.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• The base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.

Facts about Darwin International Airport (DRW):

• The closest airport to Darwin International Airport (DRW) is Bathurst Island Airport (BRT), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) NNW of DRW.
• During 2008–09 financial year a total of 1,538,938 passengers passed through Darwin International Airport which consisted of 188,530 international passengers and 1,350,408 domestic passengers.
• Australian low-cost carrier, Jetstar Airways, had expressed a keen interest in developing Darwin Airport as a hub for its trips to Asia.
• In addition to being known as "Darwin International Airport", another name for DRW is "RAAF Base Darwin".
• Darwin International Airport (DRW) has 2 runways.
• The new passenger terminal, with four aerobridges, was opened in December 1991.
• Between 1950 and 1974 Darwin Airport acted as the primary domestic and international airport for the Northern Territory and a very important stop for airlines flying between Australia, Asia and onwards to Europe.
• The furthest airport from Darwin International Airport (DRW) is Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY), which is located 11,867 miles (19,099 kilometers) away in Cayenne, French Guiana.
• Because of Darwin International Airport's relatively low elevation of 103 feet, planes can take off or land at Darwin International Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• Darwin International Airport handled 1,743,734 passengers last year.
• Until they were withdrawn from service, Concorde made sporadic visits to Darwin as well, having one of the few runways long enough in Australia to handle them.
• In April 2009 Garuda Indonesia suspended the Denpasar service from Darwin after nearly 30 years of service, citing "economic reasons".